Right to Education

World Day Against Child Labour – 12 June

The 2010 World Day Against Child Labour (12 June) coincides with the football World Cup in South Africa. Hence the slogan: “Go for the goal – end child labour”

However as Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office (ILO) states, “For some 215 million child labourers – most in hazardous work – who labour long and hard instead of learning and playing, the World Cup is a world away.”

As a member of the Global Task Force on Child Labour and Education for All as well as the UN Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Human Rights Education in the School System (UNIACC), UNESCO supports the World Day Against Child Labour. This event aims to protect children by promoting international standards on child labour, raising awareness of this important issue and advocating for the basic right of education for all children.

Child labour is closely associated with poverty and other types of marginalization. Research shows that child labour often increases during an economic downturn, as parents remove their children from school to supplement family income. Because it plays a strategic role in breaking the cycle of poverty, protecting education is a major step towards tackling child labour, along with measures to reduce poverty and promote social and economic development.